Environmental Degradation and the Emergence of Agricultural Frontiers in the North West of Cameroon

Journal of Sustainable Development; Vol. 7, No. 5; 2014 ISSN 1913-9063 E-ISSN 1913-9071 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Environmental Degradation and the Emergence of Agricultural Frontiers in the North West of Cameroon Humphrey Ngala Ndi1 & Amawa Sani Gur1 1 Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Department of Geography, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon Correspondence: Humphrey Ngala Ndi, P.O. Box 63 Buea, Cameroon. Tel: 237-7788-5649. E-mail: [email protected] Received: March 10, 2014 Accepted: March 31, 2014 Online Published: September 23, 2014 doi:10.5539/jsd.v7n5p111 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v7n5p111 Abstract Over the past 50 years, man has changed natural ecosystems more rapidly and profoundly than in any comparable period in history. In the developing countries, these changes have degraded livelihoods, provoking different responses from affected populations, the most common being out-migration. The study examines the environmental degradation on the Mbum sector of the Nkambe plateau, North West region of Cameroon, and the out-migration resulting from it. This is crucial in understanding the anthropogenic threats to farming in an area where agriculture is still rudimentary and crop yields turn to be very sensitive to environmental changes. The nature of environmental degradation and resultant migration were ascertained by analysing data acquired through suitable field and laboratory methods and techniques. Theses analysis revealed that soil impoverishments resulting from inappropriate land uses is the main environmental change on the plateau. The paper recommends the adoption of strong land use policies as a precursor to the modernisation of the farming system to reduce land colonisation, reduce out-migration and stabilise environmental conditions for sustainable agriculture. Keywords: environmental degradation, Nkambe plateau, Mbum plateau, Mbaw plain, movement, degradation 1. Introduction Sarukhan., Whyte and the MA Board of Review Editors (2005) in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report provide one of the strongest evidences so far of the impact of our actions on the natural world. It shows, for example, that over the past 50 years, man has changed natural ecosystems more rapidly, profoundly and extensively than in any comparable period in history. This has brought about substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development. However, not all people, or regions have reaped these benefits fairly. According to the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 (UNU, IHDP and UNEP, 2012), approximately 60 per cent of the world’s natural capital is either being degraded or being unsustainably used, and total factor productivity growth has been driven into the negative range because ecosystem services are an un-priced factor of production causing people not to use them with the discipline of priced factors. In the developing countries especially those emerging like China, India and Brazil; economic growth is increasing at the detriment of natural factors of production. Malthusian and Neo-Malthusian fears that the rate of population growth and natural resource consumption far outwears the ability of the planet to sustain life again for long are revived by the evidence of the current pressures and alterations exerted by human activities on the earth especially through the rapid industrialisation of the 20th century. Initially the preserve of the more economically developed countries, industrial development has become a global phenomenon albeit at different scales and magnitudes. Schubert et al., (2008), see the recent buoyancy of emerging developing countries as a major factor in the emission of green house gases, while the cornucopians or opponents of Malthus view man-environment relationships within the framework of human perfectibility with the view that only the failure of human ingenuity in his environment can spell doom for him (Rogers., Jalal., & Boyd, (2008). Despite nuance views on the man-environment nexus, nearly all theorists believe that the planet is delicate and must be cared for if man must continue to benefit from its services. In noting that Africa has the fastest economic growth in the world today, the World Bank explains such growth in terms of increased exploitation of natural resources, agricultural production, services coupled with strong internal demand. Africa’s economy is projected to grow by 5.3 per cent in 2014 (World Bank, 2013). Much of such growth only occurs at the expense of ecosystems. In the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005 commissioned by the United Nations, and conducted by hundreds of scientists 111 www.ccsenet.org/jsd Journal of Sustainable Development Vol. 7, No. 5; 2014 globally, 15 of the 24 ecosystems examined were seen to be either suffering from degradation, or being unsustainably used (Sarukhan., Whyte., and the MA Board of Review Editors, 2005). In recent years, arable lands in the tropics have suffered from an unprecedented rate of environmental degradation. In the definition of the UN Convention to combat desertification, land degradation refers to the reduction or loss of biological or economic productivity of ecosystems resulting from climatic variations, land uses and a combination of processes such as soil erosion, soil impoverishment and a sustained loss of vegetation cover (UNCCD, 1994). The UNU-EHS, UNHCR, CIESIN, CARE, & the Social Dimensions of Climate Change Programme (2009) and Oliver Smith & Xiaomeng (2009) observe that the destruction of livelihoods dependent on ecosystems is likely to be a major long term driver of migration and that environmental change induced migration is not a new phenomenon in human history. In Bangladesh, sea level rise by over 12cm since 2000 have caused the Bay of Bengal to lose residential and arable land, thereby pushing away over 3million people to urban slums and other countries (Schubert, 2008). Similarly, Graβi, et al. (2004), and Voller & Fischer (2009), and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) attribute rural-urban and cross-border migrations to land degradation, decline in freshwater, soils impoverishment and desertification. Ngane E.B, Ngane B.K, Ndjib, Awah & Ehabe (2012) have also illustrated the increasing intensity of soil degradation by selected land uses in the humid tropical north west region of Cameroon. Migration, an important component in the man-environment nexus constitutes a coping strategy for populations living in areas of highly degraded arable land. Research in migration has evolved and emerged from the shadows of population studies to occupy centre stage in contemporary area or regional studies, viewing the process as a human adaptation to economic woes which have befallen him in time and place in his life cycle. Circular migration which refers to short-term or seasonal movements between the home and the farm is a traditional coping strategy in West and Central Africa as it represents a livelihood diversifying mechanism (Care et al., 2009). Boncour (2008) corroborates this view point by acknowledging that many consider migration predominantly as a worst-case scenario, associated with crisis and generally as a last resort on which people fall when all else has failed. Human mobility and its links with environmental dynamics like climate change, and hydro-geomorphologic modifications are still not included in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process (UN, 1992). It is neither to be found in the Kyoto Protocol nor in the Bali Road Map. This is even more surprising when we consider that as early as 1990, in its very first assessment report; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that the greatest single impact of climate change might be on human mobility (Boncour, 2008, and the IOM, 2009). Migration has received wide attention from geographers because of the spatial component involved in defining it. It has been defined as a permanent or semi-permanent change of residence of an individual or group of people (Johnston, Gregory & Smith, 1994; Gregory et al., 2009; Week, 2008 & Newbold, 2010). Migration is often induced by economic, social and environmental motives. Movement motivated by an environmental stressor has been called environmental migration. Like Schubert et al. 2008 and Renaud, Bogardi, Dun, & Warner, 2007, this study considers the term environmental migrant to refer to any person or group of people that migrate because environmental changes either have such an unfavourable effect on living conditions that previously achieved income levels and standards of living can no longer be attained or the structures necessary for the maintenance of these levels have been destroyed. This concept has been the subject of much debate recently. Renaud, Bogardi, Dun, & Warner, 2007, have summarised the controversies in the literature into two questions: which category of people can be classified as environmental migrants, and do any people truly fit the definition of environmental migrants? The concept of environmental migration is discredited on the grounds that environmental stressors do not always lead to migration. Whether a move is made or not depends on the degree of resiliency of the person or group of people in question, and rather than standing alone as a concept separate from migration, environmental degradation that causes people to move should be considered as an immediate push factors for migration, amongst many existing background factors which may be social, economic and political.

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